SanDisk, flash memory cock o' the walk, is suing 25 companies for infringement of five key USB-drive patents. We finally got a list of companies that SanDisk is suing, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say, "It's all of 'em." Kingston, Buffalo, Dane-Elec, Corsair, Kanguru—they're all there. Jump for the press release.

MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, October 24, 2007 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced the filing of three patent infringement actions against 25 companies that manufacture, sell and import USB flash drives, CompactFlash cards, multimedia cards, MP3/media players and/or other removable flash storage products. The actions, filed in the United States District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin and in the United States International Trade Commission ("ITC"), allege that the defendants have infringed various SanDisk system-level patents, and seek damages and a permanent injunction in the federal court actions, as well as a permanent exclusion order from the ITC banning importation of the products into the United States.

"These actions demonstrate SanDisk's long-term commitment to enforcing its patents, both to protect our investment in research and development by obtaining a fair return on that investment, and out of fairness to third-parties that participate in our patent licensing program," said E. Earle Thompson, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at SanDisk. "Our goal is to resolve these matters by offering the defendants the opportunity to participate in our patent licensing program for card and system technology. Otherwise, we will aggressively pursue these actions, seeking a prompt judicial resolution awarding damages, obtaining injunctive relief and banning importation of infringing product."

In the second Wisconsin District Court case, SanDisk is suing numerous companies for infringement of an additional two patents that are not involved in the ITC action or the first Wisconsin District Court case, including:
A-Data
Apacer
Behavior Computer (d/b/a Emprex)
Buffalo
Dane-Elec
Kingston
Phison Electronics
PQI
PNY
Skymedi
Silicon Motion
Transcend
USBest
Verbatim
Zotek/Zodata (d/b/a Huke)

SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is one of the world's largest suppliers of flash data storage card products, using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, California, and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the United States.